US tycoon Donald Trump has written to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond accusing him of seeming to be “hell-bent on destroying Scotland's coastline” with wind turbines.

Mr Trump, who opposes plans for an offshore wind farm to be built near the site of his luxury golf resort in Aberdeenshire, called the turbines “ugly monstrosities” and “horrendous machines”.

A planning application for an 11-turbine wind farm off Aberdeen Bay was submitted to Marine Scotland last summer. A decision is expected to be made later this year.

The businessman has halted work on his resort until the decision is made by the Scottish Government. He has written to the First Minister, saying: “With the reckless installation of these monsters, you will single-handedly have done more damage to Scotland than virtually any event in Scottish history.”

In the letter, he wrote: “I have just authorised my staff to allocate a substantial amount of money to launch an international campaign to fight your plan to surround Scotland's coast with many thousands of wind turbines.” He added: “Please understand that I am doing this to save Scotland.”

Property mogul Donald Trump